Can opener



S. E. WIBLING Jan. 22, 1952 CAN OPENER Filed March 30, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET l INVENTOR \SEr/IEIWEA/N ITII. a l F nn S. E. WIBLING Jan. 22, 1952 CAN OPENER 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Filed March 30, 1949 TI HI INVENTOR L rHM5/./A/

BY 4,117 Q TTORNEYS.

4 Mm 7. m 5

Patented Jan. 22, 1952 CAN OPENER Seth E. Wibling, Danbury, Conn., assignor to Strong Appliance Industries, Incorporated, Danbury, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application March 30, 1949, Serial No. 84,311

18 Claims. 1

The present invention relates to can openers of the type adapted to sever the tops of upright cylindrical cans peripherally along the inside of circumferential top beads during can rotation.

A general object of the present invention is to provide such a can opener of simple and sturdy construction which may be employed efiiciently to open in a rapid manner the tops of cylindrical cans, both small and very large, and to accomplish that desired end consistently despite unevenness of beads and dents therein and in can sides so frequently found in cans .of large capacity.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide in such a can opener a lever .control and associated mechanism so constructed that, when the lever is swung to cutting position to move cutting means into severing contact with a can top, resiliently biased holddown mechanism will be moved by the lever to bead contact to maintain proper pressure thereon during can rotation.

Another object of the present invention is to provide in such a can opener rocking mount of a cutter-carrying control lever and lever-biasing means efficiently to snug the cutter means to the inner side of the head at all times regardless of unevenness thereof in lateral directions.

A further object of the present invention is to provide the biasing of the rocking control lever at least in part by spring-biased control means of a switch in the electrical circuit of a power unit for rotating the cans, the effective biasing of the lever being attained when it is swung to cutting position with simultaneous switch closure.

Additional objects of the invention are to provide in such can opener resilient guide-plate wear means for engagement of can sides efficiently to guide them during opening rotation regardless of dents therein and to prevent undue wear on other parts; and a spring-biased button on which can bottoms .are to be rested to facilitate rotation thereof and to permit accommodation of cans of varying heights without necessitating manual adjustment of support structure; with provision of simple but effective resilient biasing mean for engagement of can bottom sides to maintain effective can support on such button during can r0- tation.

Still another object of the invention is toprovide a structural embodiment of the device which is readily constructed and permits efficient use and operation thereof.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts, which will be exemplifled in the construction hereinafter set forth, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.

For'a fuller understanding of the nature and objects .of the invention, reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is .a side elevational view, with parts broken away and in section, of a powered embodiment of the can opener of the present invention showing it ready for opening the top of a cylindrical can, part of which has been broken away and indicated in dotted lines, the control thereof being in the off position;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view to a reduced scale taken substantially on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a front elevational view, with parts broken away, of the embodiment of the-can opener shown in Fig. 1.;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged transverse section, with parts broken away, taken substantially on line 4 of Fig. 1 in the position of the line 3-4 of Fig. 3, showing details of certain can side engagement means of the present device, but indicating partial can top severance after some operation of the device;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged front elevational View, with parts removed and broken away, of head structure of the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 and 3 showing details of the control lever in its off position and mount thereof, the can rotating and cutting mechanism, and certain can biasing means thereof; 7

Fig. 6 is a rear elevational view of a cover plate and a guiding and bead-biasing member removed from the face of the structure shown in Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a bottom view of the structure shown in Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a top plan view, with parts broken away, of the head structure shown in Fig. 5 and the cover plate of Figs. 6 and 7 assembled thereon, ShOWing the control lever in the intermediate punctured position indicated in Fig. 5;

Fig. 9 is a top plan view, with parts broken away, of structure shown in Fig. 8, showing the control lever in the on or cut position indicated in Fig. 5;

Fig. 10 is a perspective detail'view of certain lever and latch biasing means shown in Figs. 5, 8 and 9;

Fig. 11 is a side elevational detail, with parts in section and broken away, of the control lever, cutter means and can drive, indicating the rocking mount of the lever;

Fig. 12 :is an elevational front detail view of the bottom end of the control lever shown in Fig. 11, with its mounting means and cutter removed therefrom; and

Fig. 13 is an enlarged perspective view of the knife edge collar employed in the rocking mount of the control lever shown in Fig. 11.

Referring to the drawings, wherein like numerals identify similar parts throughout, there is shown, by way of example, one embodiment of the preesnt invention in the form of a large power driven can opener particularly adapted for heavy-duty operation, such as in clubs, hotels, camps, etc., for rapid opening of cans of large sizes frequently containing several gallons. It will be understood, however, that features of the present invention may be incorporated to advantage in can opener apparatus of smaller sizes, as is contemplated in commercial production of this invention, including models intended for home use.

As will be seen from Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the large model may include a base member [5 comprising a laterally-extending fiat plate 16 carrying a bored boss I? slidably receiving therethrough standard l8 on which head structure I9 is supported. The base member I5 is suitably mounted on any suitable support structure, such as by being screwed to the top of a table with a hole 2| in the latter suitably aligned with the bore in the boss H to permit vertical adjustment of the standard 18. Standard I8 preferably is provided on one side with a series of recesses or holes 22-22, into which may be selectively indexed a stop pin 23 mounted in a socket 24 in the side of boss I! with a biasing spring 25 backing the pin. Knob 26 on the outer end of stop pin 23 may be grasped to withdraw the pin from biased engagement with any one of the holes 22-22 against biasing action of spring 25 so that standard l8 may be adjusted vertically to a height dictated by the particular can to be opened, such as the large cylindrical can shown at 21, and the pin is then reindexed into a selected hole by release of the knob.

Preferably the base plate l6 has a cylindrical recess 28 bored in the top thereof. In cylindrical recess 29 is mounted a button 29 and a helical biasing spring 30 located therebeneath to provide a floating support for can bottom 3| to facilitate can rotation and to accommodate sizes of cans which are of heights intermediate the heights of standard sizes which dictated the spacings of the recesses or holes 22-22 into which stop pin 23 is selectively indexed by its biasing spring 25. Such floating mount assures that the can stop and its bead will be held securely up to position of engagement by severing means and can driving or rotating means mounted on the head structure I9.

It will be understood that with localized button support of the can bottom 3| on the base member l5 only at one point, there may be tendency of the can in its rotation, particularly when it is large and heavy, to work to one side with a tendency to misalign the top bead with respect to the driving and cutting means, which might result in that top bead popping out entirely from between the latter. Such tendency is effectively avoided by suitable resilient guiding and biasing means, prferably provided in the form of an elongated resilient member 32, such as a helical spring, suitably supported at its ends by upright posts 33, 33 to extend substantially horizontal a short distance above base plate [6.

The resilient guiding spring 32 is mounted between the support button 29 and the standard 18 so as to give lateral support to the curved side 34 of the can near its bottom below the points of engagemnt of its top by the driving and cutting means. The elasticity of the spring 32 permits it to stretch to wrap around the side of the can, as best seen in Fig. 2, due to the canted position of the latter, indicated in Fig. 1, when supported for cutting, with a transverse component of its weight acting against the spring, with the latter thus biasing the can bottom outwardly. It will be understood that when no can is supported in the can opener, spring 32 extends in a straight line between posts 33, 33 along dot-dash line 35 shown in Fig. 2. It will be further noted from the latter that instead of spring 32 extending directly across base plate [6 substantially normal to a line between button 29 and standard l8, it is arranged at an oblique angle thereto with the support pin 33 on the advance side mounted on extended portion 36 of base plate l6. Thus, the wrap of spring 32 around the curved side of the can bottom 34 will be on the advance side with respect to the direction of rotation of the can, as indicated by arrow 3! in Fig. 2, so that the can is virtually rotated into or cradled by the resilient loop provided by that stretch of helical spring, for most efficient resiliently-biased support.

The head structure l9 includes an electric motor housing 38, to the front end of which is fitted a gear casing 39 housing suitable reduction gearing to be driven by the motor. Housings 38 and 39 are preferably cast from aluminum. The gear housing 39 has a substantially vertical front face 40, preferably circular in outline, as is best seen from Figs. 3 and 5, which, on the lower portion thereof, carries a resilient member 4| to serve as a wear plate and means for biasing and guiding the side of the top portion of the can, as is indicated in Figs. 1 and 4. In the preferred form, such resilient biasing wear plate means 4| consists of a bridge member formed from a strip of relatively thin resilient metallic material, such as sheet steel, having its ends 42, 42 lying fiat against the face 40 and apertured to receive anchoring screws 43, 43 threadably received in internally threaded recesses in that housing face. The resilient bridge strap 4| is bowed outwardly at 44, 44 inward of the anchoring screws 43, 43 so that the mid-portion 45 is spaced from the housing face 40, as best seen in Fig. 4. The midportion 45 is preferably reduced in section, as

shown in Fig. 5, to increase its resiliency, and is curved inwardly, as best seen in Fig. 4, to conform it to can curvature, preferably of the largest diameter which the can opener is adapted to open. However, regardless of the inward curvature of the mid-portion 45 of resilient bridge 4|, it should be appreciably spaced from the housing face 40 to assure the desired yielding action thereof. The resilient bridge 4| thus serves not only resiliently to bias the side of the can being opened and to serve as a guide therefor, tending to retain the can in proper position with respect to cutting mechanism, even'though there may be dents in the can side, but also serves as a wear plate to prevent undue wear of the face 40 of the aluminum gear housing 39.

The housing face 40 is provided with'a transversely-extending groove or recess 46, into which extends the end of drive shaft 41 connected through the reduction gearing in housing 39 to the power unit or motor in housing 38. A driv ing circular spur 98' is fixed on the end of the drive shaft 41, and as best seen in Fig. 1, is preferably of such thickness as to be almostcompletely received in the groove 46 soas not to extend appreciably beyond the housing face 49. Above the transverse groove 46, the housing face 49 is provided with outwardly-extending, semicircular, outer peripheral flange 49, a lateral outstanding flange 59, and an inner curved outstanding flange i, together serving to define a curved biasing spring and latch recess'52 and a cutter recess 59, as best seen in Fig. 5. In'the cutter recess 53, the housing face 49 is provided with an outstanding boss 54 having an internallythreaded hole 55 therein for mounting cutter mechanism, as best seen in Fig. 11.

The head assembly I9 includes a semi-circuluar cap or cover plate 59, also preferably cast from aluminum, and it also has an outer curved edge flange 5? to match with the semicircular flange 49 of gear housing 39, a lateral flange 58 to match with flange 59 of the gear housing, and an inner curved flange 59 to match with gear housing flange 5|, as will be understood from Figs. 5 and 6. Those flanges in cap or cover plate 56 define a curved recess 99 adapted to cooperate with recess 52 to provide a biasing spring latch chamber, with the recess 99 having a portion 6| continuing to the far side to serve as a spring guiding way, as will be made more apparent hereinafter. The inner curved flange 59 defines a semicircular recess 92 which matches with recess 53, together to house cutter mechanism. At the end of the curved spring way 9! cap 59is preferably provided with a vertical hole '69 to serve as a continuation thereof down to the transverse bottom edge 94. Outer curved edge flange 51 is cut back between the points 55 and 99 to provide an elongated notch 67, as best seen in Figs. 8 and 9,

for reception of control lever mechanism. The

inner curved flange 59 is also cut back or notched between the points 98 and 99 for a similar reason.

As shown in Figs. 6 and 7, the cap 56 carries a wear or hold-down plate 79, fixed at one end to the bottom face 94 by suitable means, such as a screw 1!, threadably engaged within an internally-threaded hole in lateral flange 58. The opposite free end E2 of plate in is bent downwardly away from the bottom face 64 so that that plate will serve as a floating leaf spring, and for this purpose is preferably made of a strip of spring steel. The free end 12 of hold-down plate 19 preferably carries on its upper side a pin I3 projecting into hole 69 to be received within the end of a helical spring. Preferably, as shown in Fig. 7, the hold-down plate 19 is provided with a notch it along one edge of its mid-portion to increase the flexibility thereof and to give clearance for the cutting means. Hold-down plate 19 is intended resiliently to bear down on can top bead i5 during rotation thereof in opening the can.

As best seen in Fig. 11, a stud bolt I9 is threaded into boss 59 and is provided with a head 11 having a crowned back surface 18. The stud bolt l9 has an enlarged unthreaded shank section 79 adjacent head 'i'! to serve as a cylindrical bearing surface when received within a rotatable bearing collar 99, as best seen in Fig. 13. Bearing collar 89 has a flat back edge 8I seated against the face of boss 54 and a tapered front ed e 82 providing a pa r of diametrically-opposed knife edge bearings 83, 83.

As seen in Figs; 5, 11 and 12, a cutter supporting, manual control lever 84, preferably of the first class. is pivotally mounted on stud bolt 15. For this reason, lever 84 is provided between its lower end 85 and its top end 86 with a circular hole 81, loosely to receive the bearing portion 19 of stud bolt 16. As shown in Figj12, the front face of lever 84 is chamfered out at 88, 88 on diametrically opposite sides of hole 81 longitudinally of the lever to provide surfaces which may slide against the crowned back surface 19 of bolt head Ti with longitudinal rocking of the lever. The back face of lever 84' is provided transversely at diametrically-opposed points with bearing notches 89, 89, in. which the knife edge bearings 83, 83 will remain seated, so that lever 84 may be rocked longitudinally, regardless of its angular position in the arc of its swing about the axis of stud bolt 19. I

As best seen from Figs. 11 and 12, the lower end 85 of control lever 84 is bent inwardly at an angle to provide an oblique bearing surface 99, against which is rotatably mounted a tapered cutting wheel 9|, of conventional type, by means of a headed stud bolt 92 threadably received in an internally-threaded hole 93 in that lower end of the lever. By such shape of the bottom end of lever 84, the tapered edge of the cutting wheel 9I is caused to be snugged up toward the outer face 94 of driving spur wheel 48 on the advance side thereof, as best seen in Fig. 5, which has been found to assure efficient cutting. action. It will thus be seen that although control lever 94 is rockably mounted on its pivot or fulcrum axis, its lower end 85 has a limit of inward swing by virtue of contact of cutter wheel 9| with the outer face 94 of spur wheel 48, and free outward swing of the lower end in the direction of arrow 95 in Fig. 11 is permitted, the latter being checked only by certain resilient biasing means hereinafter described.

Control lever 84 carries on its upper end, as best seen in Figs. 1 and 2, a manual knob 96 adapted to be grasped by the hand of the operator to swing the lever from the normal or off position shown in full lines in Fig. 3, through the intermediate dotted line puncture" position 91, to the cut or on position 99 shown in dot-dash lines therein. The are of swing of lever 84 between those positions is permitted by the notches in flanges 51 and 59 between the points 65 and 96, 68 and 69 respectively, indicated in Fig. 6. In other words, lever 94 is free to swing from one end to the other of the slot provided by' notch 6-1 when cap 59 is secured to gear housing 39, as seen in Figs. 8 and 9.

In the chamber provided by the latch recesses 52 and 69 respectively in the gear housing 39 and cap 56, a biasing spring member 99 is mounted to serve also as a latch for the lever when swung to its cut or on" position. The biasing latch 99, as best seen in Figs. 5 and l0,v is formed from an arcuately-shaped piece or strip of spring steel having one end I99 thereof apertured at- HH to receive a screw I 92 holding it to the housing face 49. The other end I93 of biasing latch 99 is preferably provided with a notch I94 to provide clearance for a switch control plunger i95. Intermediate its ends I99 and I99, biasing latch plate 99 is so bent or shaped as to provide a latch nose I96 so that when the lever 94 is swung in the full "on position, shown in Fig. 9, from the intermediate "puncture position, shown inFigs. 5 and 8,. the latch nose I 96 will snap in behind the lever temporarily to hold it in such on position. The biasing. latch 99 preferably is so shaped that, when free from lever 84 in the off position, its free end I03 assumes a position extending angularly across slot 51, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 8. Swing of control lever 84 from the oil position tothe intermediate out position shown in Fig. 8 causes the latch nose I05 to serve as a cam, permitting passage of the lever with rearward movement of the latch to the full line position shown in that figure, with outward spring'biasing of the top end of the lever. When the lever 84 reaches the on or out position shown in Fig. 9, it frees the nose I06 to permit the biasing latch 99 to snap partially outward to the full line position shown in that figure. Thus, there is continual outward'biasing of the top end of lever 84 during its swing through the intermediate puncture position and to and at the cut or on position.

Such spring biasing of lever 84 preferably is supplemented by a helical spring I01 seated behind latch 99 within a recess I08 in the face 40 of gear housing 39, as best seen fromFig. 8. This biasing preferably is still further supplemented 'by spring biasing of control plunger I05, which is adapted to operate a known type of electrical switch unit I09 in a manner so that the motor circuit is closed at the switch when spring-biased switch control plunger I05 is pushed and held inwardly to the position shown in Fig. 9 by con trol lever 84, and the circuit is opened when that biased plunger is permitted to be pushed out b its biasing spring to the position shown in 5 and 8 with retraction of the control lever. Further, the outward biasing of the can bottom by spring 32 assures the canted position shown in Fig. 1 of a can even though it be large and relatively heavy, so as to supplement the action of cutting wheel 9I on the inner side of top bead I5 due to outward biasing of the top end of lever 84, to assure that top bead I remains be tween the cutting wheel and driving spur 4'3. Thus, it will be seen that in the preferred embodiment, the upper end 86 of control lever 84, above its fulcrum point at screw I0, is biased outwardly to snug cutter wheel 9I inwardly toward driving spur 48 by the biasing action of three elements; namely; biasing latch 90, biasing spring I0I, and

biased switch control plunger I05. It is to be understood, however, that if desired, such biasing of lever 84 may be attained solely either by the biased switch control plunger I05, or by the biasing latch 99, or other suitable biasing means. However, the cooperative biasing functioning of those elements is preferred in view of the efficiency thereof proven in commercial operation of the embodiment of the invention shown in the drawings. As best shown in Fig. 9, the semicircular outer flange 49 of gear housing casting 39 is preferably cut away to provide a notch I20 to permit the upper end 86 of lever 84 to move inwardly against biasing action with an attendan outward movement of the cutter wheel 9i in the direction of arrow 95 shown in Fig. 11, if and when any obstructions, such as unevenness ll top bead I5, are encountered.

As shown in Fig. 5, there is arranged in the way provided in cap 55 by the arcuate recess 5| and the hole 53 an arcuate helical spring III havin one end fixed at II2 to the upper end 80 of con-- trol lever 84, above the lever fulcrum point at stud bolt IS, with the other end I I3 of the spring extending down through that hole to seat about pin I3 against the top side of the free end I2 of hold-down plate I0. Accordingly, arcuate spring III will be swung through an arcuate path with arcuate swing of lever 84 along slot 61. As a result, when lever 84 is swung over to the off or normal position to raise cutter wheel 9| up into recess 53, arcuate spring III is retracted from contact with hold-down plate I0 so as to permit easy insertion of the top head 15 of a can between driving spur 48 and the hold-down plate. However, with swing of the manual lever 84 forward to its out or on position, the arcuate spring is swung forward through its arcuate path to bear down upon the free end I2 of the holddown plate, thereby to apply additional biasing force through the latter to the top of the bead.

In operation of the embodiment of the can opener of the present invention, shown by way of example in the drawings, the apparatus may be adjusted to accommodate a can of a certain size, such as that indicated at 21 in Fig. 1, by adjustment of standard I0, with index of pin 23 into a selected one of the holes 2222. The bottom 3I of the can 21 is then seated upon spring-biased button 29 on the base I5, to be floatingly supported thereby, with one side of the can bottom at 34 snugged over into the lapping loop provided by oblique spring 32, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The bottom side of the top bead I5 will be positioned over the top of the driving spur 48 beneath the hold-down plate I0, with cutter wheel 9% retracted as shown in Fig. 3. Due to the downward bowing of free end I2 of resilient plate i0 it may be necessary to lift that end slightly in inserting bead I5 between it and driving spur 48, so that there may thus be a limited degree of initial biasing down on the bead, later to be supplemented by the biasing of arcuate spring III.

Control lever 84 will then be swung manually to the intermediate puncture position 91, as shown in full lines in Fig. 5, which swings cutter wheel 9| down into severing contact with the top of the can just inside the top bead I5. Further swing of control lever 84 to the cut or on position at 98 swings the cutter wheel 9I slightly further down and over to its full cutting position immediately above the axis of driving spur 48. This swing of the control lever 84 through the puncture position shown in Figs. 5 and 8 to the cut or on position shown in Fig. 9 causes the control lever in traversing slot 61 to cam the biasing latch 99 rearwardly to the full line position shown in Fig. 8, and finally to permit it to snap partially forward to the latching position shown in full lines in Fig. 9. In such positions of the parts, the biasing latch 99, the helical spring I01 and the biased switch control plunger I05 all cooperatively bias the top end 86 of lever 84 forward to the positions shown in full lines in Fig. 11, to snug cutter wheel 9| toward outer side 94 of driving spur 48 to assure cut of the can top along the inner side of bead I5. Of course, with depression of the switch control plunger I05 by lever 54, the motor is started to rotate spur wheel 48 so that the latter will rotate the can on its support button 29 in the direction of arrow 3! shown in Fig. 2.

Simultaneously with the swing of control lever 84 over to its biased cutting position, arcuate spring III is swung forward so that its leading end H3 engages and depresses the free end I2 of hold-down plate to increase its biasing contact of the top bead I5. This assures proper driving contact of the underside of the bead I5 by the driving spur 48 at all times, regardless of any irregularities therein in a substantially vertical plane. Blobs of solder on the top of bead I5 will be accommodated by yield of hold-down plate I0.

the canted position shown in Fig. 1.

and even vertical dents of appreciable depth therein will not seriously affect efiicient operation of the can opener since the can is fioatingly supported at the base by biased button 29, permitting some up-and-down movement thereof. Arcuate spring H l effectively biases hold-down plate l downwardly so that even during traverse of such a depressed dent in the bead 75, the can will be forced accommodatingly to dip and rise so that the driving spur will-at all times be snugly engaged to the underside of the bead.

Lateral dentsin the bead 15, such as that indicated at H4 in Fig. 4, are efliciently accommodated by the rocking mount of control lever 84 and the cutting wheel 9! carried thereby, as described above in connection with Figs. 11, 12 and 13. When the cutting wheel 9!, as it rolls along the inner side of bead l5, encounters such a lateral dent H4, it tends to be cammed inwardly toward the can center, as permitted by the biased rocking mount of lever 84, so that cutter wheel 9! closely follows along the inner side of the bead, regardless of such irregularity. The formation of such cut is indicated at H in Fig. 4. The functioning of resilient biasing bridge and wear strap 45 has been described above, as well as the cradling operation of the lapping spring 32.

If can 2? is relatively large and heavy there may be tendency for its bottom 3! to work inwardly during rotation of the bottom on biased button 2! with attendant straightening up from I This will tend to lever the cutting wheel 9| outwardly, farther away from the outer face 9 of driving spur 48, against the inward biasing of the cutting wheel due to the outward biasing of the upper end 86 of lever 84. As a result top bead I5 may pop out from between the cutting wheel 9! and driving spur :38, particularly when an unevenness in the bead is encountered. The abutment provided by spring 32 prevents the can bottom from creeping inwardly in this manner. However, experience has shown not every type of abutment will perform that function as efficiently as does that spring 32. ample, will prevent the creeping, but if there are dents in the side 34 at the can bottom of any appreciable dimensions the can bottom will work inward and outward as the dented side follows the fixed abutment. Consequently, the top bead l5 tends to pop out from between the cutting wheel 9! and driving spur 48. However, the wide lap of biasing spring 32 overcomessuch tendency and, further, the resilient biasing action thereof suitably assures accommodation to and automatic counterbalancing of abnormal conditions, such as those which may put such undue strain on the outward biasing of the top end 86 of lever 84 as to otherwise cause the undesired popping out of top bead l5. Excessiveload on the biasing means which resiliently biases the cutter wheel 8! inwardly is eased by the-resilient biasing action of spring 32.

It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among those made apparent from the preceding description, are efficiently attained by the employment of the embodiment of the present invention shown by way of example in' the drawings and, since certain changes may be made in the above construction and different embodiments of the invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings A solid abutment ledge, for ex- 10 shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A can opener comprising, in combination; supporting frame structure; a hand lever of the first class pivotally mounted on said frame structure having a word end and a force-receiving, manual-engagement end located on opposite sides of a point of pivotal mountation with its work end carrying cutter means; pressure-applying, bead-top engaging means mounted on said frame structure; means biasing said pressure-applying means downwardly to a limited degree; and means interposed between the manual-em gagement end of said lever and said pressure-applying means to push the latter down to bead-engaging position when. said lever is swung laterally over to cutting position.

2. The can opener structure as defined in claim 1 characterized by the provision of said interposed means in the nature of resilient connecting means to apply downward biasing force to said pressure-applying means in supplement to biasing force applied thereto by said first-mentioned biasing means.

3. The can opener structure as defined in claim 2 characterized by the provision of said resilient connecting means in the form of a compression spring interposed between said lever and said pressure-applying means to push the latter downwardly with lateral swing of said lever to cutting position.

a. The can opener structure as defined in claim 3 characterized by the provision of said compression spring as a curved helical spring laid out substantially on an arc of a circle circumscribed about the fulcrum of said lever as a center, and downwardly curved means to guide said curved spring in its motion toward said pressure-applying means with lateral swing of said lever theretoward.

5. The can opener structure as defined in claim 4.- characterized by the provision of said pressureapplying means as a resilient plate arranged substantially in a lateral plane to extend beneath said lever and said downwardly-curved spring from a point of contact of the free end thereof by the lower end of said spring at one side of the lever fulcrum point to a point anchorage on the opposite side of the fulcrum point.

6. A can opener comprising, in combination; supporting frame structure; a hand lever of the first class pivotally mounted at a fulcrum point on a substantially horizontal axis to said frame structure having a work end and a force-receiving, manual-engagement end located on opposite sides of that axis; said lever having its manualengagement end extending upwardly thereabove and its work end extending below the fulcrum point thereof with said work end carrying cutter means; lever mounting means at the fulcrum point permitting rocking motion of said lever substantially normal to a plane defined by its path of lateral swing about the axis to permit outward rock of said cutter means away from that plane of swing; and means resiliently biasing the lower work end of said lever inward substantially normal to that plane of swing and in opposition to the outward rock of said cutter means.

7. The can opener structure as defined in claim 6 characterized by means for engaging the outer side of an upright can at the top thereof below the lever fulcrum point, and spring means biasing the upper handle end of said lever outward substantially normal to the plane of swing about the axis resiliently to bias said cutter means in toward said can side engagement means.

8. The can opener structure as defined in claim 7 characterized by the provision of said can side engagement means as comprising a bead-engaging, power-driven, can-rotating spur positioned substantially vertical with its axis extending substantially horizontal and with said cutter means biased to the outer side thereof when lowered to cutting position with lateral swing of said lever.

9. The can opener structure as defined in claim 8 characterized by the provision of said can side engagement means as also including a laterallyextending bridge of resilient material mounted at its ends at fixed points on said frame structure to opposite sides of said spur axis with its midportion freely suspended away therefrom to a position of can side engagement for biased contact therewith.

10. The can opener structure as defined in claim 9 characterized by the provision of said bridge in the form of a resilient thin strip of metal bowed outwardly away from said frame structure between its ends where mounted on the latter, said outwardly bowed resilient mid-portion being curved inwardly slightly without contacting said frame structure to accommodate can curvature.

11. A can opener comprising, in combination; supporting frame structure; a hand lever pivotally mounted on said frame structure for lateral swing, carrying cutter means with one end of said lever constituting a handle for manual engagement to and from a fixed-location cutting position of the latter between that position and a retracted position so as to be swung by hand; I

guide means offset axially of said lever defining an arcuate path of lever swing between the cutterretracted position and the cutting position; power-actuated, can rotating rotary means located on a fixed axis at the cutting position to rotate cans relative to said cutter means carried by said lever; and switch means for controlling an electrical power unit adapted to drive said can rotating means, said switch means having on operating control located in the path of said lever at the cutting position thereof for engagement thereby at that position so that said power unit will be turned on when said lever is swung to cutting position and turned off when said lever is swung back to cutter-retracted position.

12. The can opener structure as defined in claim 11 characterized by the provision of said switch means control as a spring-biased element normally holding said switch means in opencircuit position when not engaged by said lever and positioned in the path of said lever at its cutting position to be moved thereby to circuitclosing position only when said cutter means is swung to cutting position.

13. The can opener structure as defined in claim 11 characterized by the provision of said lever as of the first class having its pivotal axis extending substantially horizontal with one end carrying said cutter means adapted to be swun down thereby to cutting position and its other end constituting the handle adapted to be swung upward manually to lower said cutter means, said switch means control element being located at the end of the arcuate path of upward swing of said handle to be there engaged by the latter when it is swung upward to lower said cutter means to cutting position.

14. The can opener structure as defined in claim 13 characterized by lever mounting at the fulcrum point permitting rocking motion of said lever substantially normal to the path of its cutter-lowering swing to permit outward swing of said cutter means, substantially normal to a plane defined by its path of swing, and means resiliently biasing the lower cutter-carrying end of said lever inward substantially normal to that plane of swing in opposition to the outward rock of said cutter means when said lever is swung to cutting position.

15. The can opener structure as defined in claim 14 characterized by the provision of said resilient biasing means along the path of said handle at the cutting position.

16. The can opener structure as defined in claim 15 characterized by the provision of said resilient biasing means as comprising the springbiased control for said switch means.

17. The can opener structure as defined in claim 16 characterized by the provision of additional resilient biasing means supplementing the biasing action of said switch control on said lever.

18. The can opener structure as defined in claim 17 characterized by the provision of said additional resilient biasing means in the form of a strip of resilient metal arranged along the handle path shaped to serve as a latch tending to hold said lever handle in cutting position.

SETH E. WIBLING.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

